Baek Jong Won’s Radish Doenjang Jjigae

Today’s doenjang jjigae is a little different from what you find on a daily basis at most Korean restaurants and homes. This is Baek Jong Won’s special “home secret” recipe that he noted on his TV show. Instead of the common tofu and pork based stew, this version uses thinly sliced beef and a ton of radish that can be enjoyed like a soup or like a sauce on top of rice! The radish adds an extra oomph of flavor to the soup base that makes it more “siwonhae” 시원해 which means refreshing!

This is great for that day you run out of tofu at home! It’s a great variation to add into a standard rotation of stews at home. It definitely has a different soup flavor even though it uses the same “doenjang”.

Enjoy! and then of course a few excerpts from the show!

slicing the radish

delicious taste testing!

Print Recipe

Baek Jong Won's Radish Doenjang Jjigae

Servings

2 people

Ingredients

• 200 g (scant ½ lb) thinly sliced beef (chadolbagi, beef brisket)
• 120 g (1 ½ - 2 cups) julienned radish
• 2 Tbsp Korean soybean paste doenjang 된장
• ½ Tbsp Korean red pepper paste gochujang 고추장
• ⅓ Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 green onion scallion
• 1 spicy pepper (jalapeno serrano etc)
• ¼ zucchini *optional not in original recipe
• 300 ml rice based water* approximate (can use plain water)

Servings 2 people Ingredients 200 g (scant ½ lb) thinly sliced beef (chadolbagi, beef brisket) 120 g (1 ½ - 2 cups) julienned radish 2 Tbsp Korean soybean paste doenjang 된장 ½ Tbsp Korean red pepper paste gochujang 고추장 ⅓ Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1 green onion scallion 1 spicy pepper (jalapeno serrano etc) ¼ zucchini *optional not in original recipe 300 ml rice based water* approximate (can use plain water)

Instructions

1. Cut the thinly sliced beef into bite size pieces
2. Julienne the radish. Slice the radish horizontally to first make round slices and then cut the round slices into long strips.

   
3. Chop the green onion and spicy pepper.
4. Heat a small pot to medium-high heat. Add in the beef pieces and continue to stir fry until the redness is gone and oil from the meat begins to come out.

   
5. Add in the radish. At first, it will seem like there is way too much radish but as the radish cooks through, the volume will decrease.

   
6. Add in rice water to cover just enough of the ingredients. (About 300 ml - start with less and add in more).

   
7. Once the soup comes to a simmer, add in the soybean paste. I like to use a mesh strainer and add the soybean paste on top of the mesh and push the paste through. This will make the paste dissolve and mix more easily into the entire stew.
8. Continue to add the red pepper paste, sugar and minced garlic. Mix well into the stew.
9. If using, add in the zucchini. * Not in the original recipe but I like zucchini in all of my doenjang stews.
10. Once the radish and zucchini is cooked through (about 3 more minutes), top with the green onion and peppers. Put the top on the stew and let it boil for about another 1-2 minutes.
11. Turn off the heat and enjoy with a bowl of rice! *Add some of the stew into your rice bowl and mix it or enjoy a hot spoonful of rice and then another spoonful of stew.

    

Recipe Notes

*Rice water: When making a new pot of rice, use the water that is used to rinse rice. The water of the first wash of the rice should be thrown out. The second and/or time, add the water to the bowl of uncooked rice, and dump it into a bowl to be used for the stew. Continue to wash/make the rice like normal. The rice water makes the stew a bit thicker. This is optional.